The Magazine of the National Communication Association November 2017 | Volume 53, Number 4 ABOUT

Spectra, the magazine of the National Communication Association 2017 NCA EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE (NCA), features articles on topics that are relevant to In this issue Communication scholars, teachers, and practitioners. Spectra is President one means through which NCA works toward accomplishing its Stephen J. Hartnett, University of Colorado, Denver mission of advancing Communication as the discipline that studies First Vice President all forms, modes, media, and consequences of communication Ronald L. Jackson II, University of Cincinnati through humanistic, social scientific, and aesthetic inquiry. MESSAGE FROM 2 THE PRESIDENT NCA serves its members by enabling and supporting their Second Vice President professional interests. Dedicated to fostering and promoting Star Muir, George Mason University Fake News, Startling Truths, free and ethical communication, NCA promotes the widespread and the Power of Trust in Immediate Past President appreciation of the importance of communication in public and 7 an Age of Disbelief private life, the application of competent communication to Christina S. Beck, Ohio University AN INTRODUCTION By Stephen J. Hartnett, Ph.D. improve the quality of human life and relationships, and the use Educational Policies Board Director FAKE NEWS of knowledge about communication to solve human problems. Scott A. Myers, West Virginia University SPOTLIGHT The views and opinions expressed in Spectra articles are those 4 of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the National Publications Board Director Data About the Discipline: Communication Association. Bonnie J. Dow, Vanderbilt University 8 Journal Citation Metrics WHAT DO WE MEAN for NCA Journals All NCA members receive a Spectra subscription. The magazine Research Board Director BY FAKE? WHAT DO Public Presence: also is available via individual print subscription for non-members Mindy Fenske, University of South Carolina WE MEAN BY NEWS? at the annual cost of $50; to subscribe, send an email to NCA Hosts Public Program [email protected]. Finance Board Director By Katherine G. Fry, Ph.D. on Communication, Culture, Orlando Taylor, Fielding Graduate University and Health Spectra (ISSN 2157-3751) is published four times a year (March, May, September, and November). ©National Communication Finance Board Member In Our Journals Association. All rights reserved. Ronald Shields, Sam Houston State University CAREER Finance Board Member 14 28 OPPORTUNITIES Marnel Niles Goins, California State University, Fresno IF IT’S FAKE, IT’S NOT NEWS Interim Executive Director ADVERTISING IN SPECTRA By Rochelle Riley Trevor Parry-Giles For information about placing an advertisement in Spectra, please visit www.natcom.org/advertising. SPECTRA STAFF 18 ADVERTISING IN CAREER OPPORTUNITIES ON THE DANGERS OF FAKE Director of External Affairs and Publications Deadline for March Issue: January 15 NEWS AND FAKE SKEPTICISM Wendy Fernando Deadline for May Issue: March 15 By Steven Alan Carr, Ph.D. DID YOU KNOW [email protected] ? Submit text-only ads online at www.natcom.org/postjob/. Payment information must accompany ad order. Contributors A quick search of NCA's 11 LaKesha Anderson Visit www.natcom.org/spectragraphicads/ for information on scholarly journals for the term submitting graphic ads. NCA accepts Visa, Mastercard, Discover, Jenna Sauber American Express, and purchase orders. “Fake News” returns more than Design Questions? Contact [email protected]. Krystyn MacGregor 24 200 results. Read these articles NCA supports continued efforts to eliminate discriminatory hiring practices. Advertising and Permissions WHEN WORDS LOSE THEIR MEANING: and more online by visiting All employers are asked to identify the inclusion of sexual orientation in COUNTERFACTUAL ADVOCACY, Aaron Tuttle their affirmative action statements. Advertisers must provide information DONALD TRUMP, AND THE RISE www.natcom.org/nca-journals. about the availability of spousal and domestic partner benefits, which will appear with all online and print advertisements. NCA is not responsible for Cover Art OF DESPOTIC POPULISM verifying the accuracy of advertisements. Bigstock.com/gorbachlena By Steven R. Goldzwig, Ph.D.

November 2017 National Communication Association 1

MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT

To Communication scholars who are

committed to seeking truth… while deploying

Fake News, Startling Truths, and the communication that is based in evidence, the

Power of Trust in an Age of Disbelief Trump-directed flood of “fake news” thus stands

as a dire threat to our very way of life.

By Stephen J. Hartnett, Ph.D.

nd so it came to pass that a great nation, The moment was thus ripe with contradiction, lying about their location. U.S. foreign policy, the very And therein lies the rub: modernity, as we know with a long and venerable tradition of terrific as the President hurled “fake news” charges at his critics, balancing of life and death in such crisis situations, was it, rests upon trust. You send a ship to Hong Kong, journalism, lost its mind over “fake news.” while flooding our communication networks with itself now another Trumpian mash-up of “fake news.” with goods made in Detroit, to be paid for by banks in The phrase rocketed to national prominence evasions, slander, and misinformation. Consider the The problem, of course, is that when the White House Shenzhen, so that consumers all around the Pearl River Acourtesy of President Donald Trump’s Twitter account, on example of President Trump’s bluster toward North issued such deceptive statements on a daily basis, it lost all Delta can use products that actually work and laborers which the President routinely lambasted those institutions Korea. Intelligence agencies suggested in April 2017 that credibility, making the world a more dangerous place. As all around Michigan can put food on their tables. If the which dared to criticize him. “Fake news,” then, as used by the hermit kingdom was about to launch another ballistic Max Boot wrote in Foreign Policy (February 21, 2017), the products fail, or the checks bounce, then participants in President Trump, was a defensive phrase meant to deflect missile, or perhaps was preparing to detonate another proliferation of Trump-driven “fake news” meant “the the vast network of trade lose trust and close down the attention from a troubled administration by attacking test nuclear explosion. In an attempt to deter the North wheels are falling off” U.S. foreign policy, for neither allies avenues of exchange, leading to market failure, job loss, the East Coast liberals who ran the New York Times, the Koreans, the Trump White House began a campaign nor foes believed a word uttered by the President. Simon and the unraveling of lives. No trust, no jobs. No trust, Washington Post, and other highly respected news outlets. of threat-escalation, claiming that a massive, nuclear- Denyer, writing from Beijing, observed in the Washington no goods. No trust, no international culture of ideas More than just political deflection, however, the armed “armada” of U.S. vessels was sailing toward the Post (February 28, 2017) that the leaders of China’s and art and friendship. Trumpian notion of “fake news” carried significant Korean peninsula, the better to incinerate anyone foolish Communist Party were so baffled by President Trump’s To Communication scholars who are committed to implications for our norms of communication. Committed enough to cross the President. As Aaron Blake chronicled proliferating “fake news” that they weren’t sure “whether seeking truth—even in its most relativist, constructed, to extending the notion of deconstruction to its logical in the Washington Post (April 18, 2017), talk of this to laugh or cry” at the implosion of America’s credibility debated, and deconstructed forms—while deploying conclusion, the President blew past any notion of relativism, “armada” was floated by Admiral Harry Harris on April 9, on the world stage. communication that is based in evidence, the Trump- the social construction of reality, or healthy skepticism, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis on April 11, White House I was in Beijing in June, when I had the opportunity directed flood of “fake news” thus stands as a dire and on into the land of conspiracy and myth, thus hurtling Spokesperson Sean Spicer on April 11, and then Trump to lead a workshop on U.S.-style civic engagement and free threat to our very way of life. Indeed, as long as the headlong into the bitter morass of nihilism, where facts are himself, an anonymous “senior administration official,” speech for the International Department of the Communist White House functions as a factory of misdirection and irrelevant and counter-perspectives are treason, where and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on April 12, thus Party, and almost every question I received from my nihilism, then our culture of communication and trust— whim governs messaging and ego directs the state. indicating an orchestrated campaign. The Trump White smart, wired, and enthusiastic audience began with, “Well whether environmental communication or organizational And so, pounded home by tweet after tweet, House was on message. yes, but what about Trump? Don’t his lies undermine communication, health communication or cultural President Trump’s shouting “fake news” against his critics But then Mark Landler and Eric Schmitt reported everything you are saying?” I was in China, advocating for criticism, communication about gender and sexuality, soon became synonymous with denying anything like in the New York Times (April 19, 2017) that the Vinson free speech; the President was in Washington, proffering or international communication—is in jeopardy. complex historical reasoning, eschewing arguments from strike group (including the aircraft carrier USS Carl “fake news.” In the eyes of my Chinese friends, the fact And so, in this issue of Spectra, we are proud to multiple vantage points, and foregoing considerations Vinson and its associated ships) was at “that very moment that Trump could get away with his parade of “fake news” publish a series of essays on “fake news” with the hope that extend beyond the immediate news cycle. Nicholas sailing in the opposite direction, to take part in joint showed that free speech is dangerous and not to be trusted. of renewing your faith in the possibility of informed Kristof captured the high stakes involved in President exercises with the Australian Navy in the Indian While I countered with charts about checks and balances debate that is rooted in trust. As these pieces demonstrate, Trump’s “fake news” barrage when he lamented (New Ocean, 3,500 miles southwest of the Korean Peninsula.” and stories of noble journalists speaking truth to power NCA remains committed to supporting a culture York Times, August 24, 2017), “If only President Trump Reasonable people asked, “How on earth do you lose and citizens marching for the common good, Trump’s of communication and trust, with that trust rooted in an denounced neo-Nazis as passionately and sincerely as he track of the world’s most powerful warships?” To which tweets continued, thus confirming my Chinese friends’ ethic of listening carefully, balancing competing claims,

castigates journalists.” the answer was obvious: the Trump White House was worst fears about the instability of democracy. and moving gently toward the common good. ■

2 November 2017 National Communication Association 3

PUBLIC PRESENCE Spotlight NCA Hosts Public Program on Communication, Culture, and Health

DATA ABOUT THE DISCIPLINE

Journal Citation Metrics for NCA Journals

Journal citation metrics provide insight into the impact and reach of a journal. Often, these metrics are required for annual reports and tenure and promotion dossiers. These metrics also help scholars select a journal when submitting an article for publication. Rather than relying on the single impact factor metric, NCA provides multiple journal citation metrics for NCA’s 11 journals. Specifically, NCA provides four metrics: Journal Impact Factor (JIF), CiteScore (CS), Source-Normalized Impact per Paper (SNIP), and SCImago Journal Rank (SJR). These metrics are defined in the following ways:

■ JIF (InCites Journal Citation Reports): The number of citations made in the current year to articles in the previous two years (in selected journals), divided by the total number of citable articles from the previous two years. On Thursday, September 14, 2017, NCA hosted “Communication, Culture, and Health,” a public program held on the campus of the ■ CS (Elsevier/Scopus): The number of citations made in the current year to articles in the previous three years of the journal, University of New Mexico in Albuquerque. The program addressed the roles of culture and communication in advancing health equity, divided by the total number of articles in the previous three years of the journal. improving health quality, and eliminating the health disparities that impact the minority-majority state of New Mexico and its unique ■ SNIP (Scopus): SNIP weights citations based on the number of citations in a field. If there are fewer total citations in a research population. This program was co-sponsored by the University of New Mexico’s Department of Communication and Journalism and the field, then citations are worth more in that field. Communication and Journalism Graduate and Professional Organization. ■ SJR (Scopus): This metric does not consider all citations of equal weight; the prestige of the citing journal is taken into account. Panelists included Lorenda Belone (Community Health Program, College of Education, University of New Mexico); Teresa Clay The following NCA journal metrics are from 2016 or 2017 ratings and rankings. (Director, Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Program, Indian Health Service–Albuquerque), Tamar Ginossar (Department of Communication & Journalism, University of New Mexico); medical student Jaron Kee; Johnnye Lewis (College of Pharmacy, University of New Mexico); and Nathania Tsosie (Associate Director, Center for Native American Health, University of New Mexico). Communication & Critical/Cultural Studies Journal of Applied Communication Research

COMMUNICATION ■  JOURNAL OF ■ AND JIF: 0.767 (#57/79 in Communication) APPLIED JIF: 0.308 (#75/79 in Communication) CRITICAL/CULTURAL COMMUNICATION STUDIES RESEARCH Volume 1 Number 1 • January 2015 ■ CS: N/A Volume 1 Number 1 • January 2015 ■ CS: 1.24 (#70/582 in Language & Linguistics) IN OUR JOURNALS ■ SNIP: N/A ■ SNIP: 0.840

NATIONAL NATIONAL COMMUNICATION COMMUNICATION ASSOCIATION ASSOCIATION ■ SJR: 0.828 (#46/293 in Communication) ■ SJR: 0.493 (#81/293 in Communication) Brian Cozen, “Facting Fiction: Revolution, the United into law in 2016 by former President Barack Obama. The Communication Education Journal of International and Nations, and Cultural Politics of Electricity,” Critical CFPDA largely focuses on countering foreign propaganda ■ JIF: N/A Intercultural Communication COMMUNICATION EDUCATION Studies in Media Communication 34 (2017): 329-343. JOURNAL OF Volume 1 Number 1 • January 2015 ■ from countries such as China and Russia. However, as Hall ■ INTERNATIONAL JIF: N/A CS: 1.79 (#33/582 in Language & Linguistics) AND INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION Volume 1 Number 1 • January 2015 ■ explains, the Trump administration’s relationship with Russia ■ SNIP: 1.746 CS: 1.14 (#33/697 in Cultural Studies) Cozen’s piece focuses on the season-long collaborative

NATIONAL COMMUNICATION ASSOCIATION ■ SJR: 0.817 (#49/293 in Communication) ■ SNIP: 1.239 campaign involving the United Nations and NBC’s primetime generates uncertainty about the commitment to fighting Russian NATIONAL COMMUNICATION ASSOCIATION ■ SJR: 0.630 (#61/293 in Communication) drama Revolution, a show about global loss of electricity. disinformation and propaganda. Hall examines the ways in Communication Monographs Cozen argues that the collaboration between NBC and the UN which other nations have dealt with Russian propaganda and ■ JIF: 1.738 (#19/79 in Communication) Quarterly Journal of Speech COMMUNICATION offers a proposed structure for U.S. counter-propaganda. MONOGRAPHS extended beyond merely utilizing a television show to promote Volume 1 Number 1 • January 2015 ■ ■ QUARTERLY JIF: 0.460 (#67/79 in Communication) CS: 1.85 (#30/582 in Language & Linguistics) JOURNAL OF SPEECH Volume 1 Number 1 • January 2015 energy access. Rather, he posits that the show’s paratexts ■ SNIP: 1.638 ■ CS: 1.15 (#77/582 in Language & Linguistics)

NATIONAL COMMUNICATION ASSOCIATION offered a lens through which to interpret fiction as authentic, Michael Buozis, “Giving Voice to the Accused: Serial ■ SJR: 1.039 (#29/293 in Communication) ■ SNIP: 1.551 NATIONAL COMMUNICATION ASSOCIATION ■ SJR: 0.822 (#48/293 in Communication) and suggests that the collaboration itself invited audiences to and the Critical Potential of True Crime,” Communication Communication Teacher not only reflect on their dependence on certain energy regimes, and Critical/Cultural Studies 14 (2017): 254-270. ■ JIF: N/A Review of Communication COMMUNICATION but also legitimatize the maintenance and expansion of those In this essay, Buozis explores “criminal biography” as a genre TEACHER Volume 1 Number 1 • January 2015 ■ ■ THE JIF: N/A CS: N/A REVIEW OF COMMUNICATION regimes globally. As Cozen explains, UN involvement in the show of true crime that offers a means for interrogating modes of Volume 1 Number 1 • January 2015 ■ SNIP: N/A ■ CS: 0.21 (#195/263 in Communication)

NATIONAL COMMUNICATION authenticates Revolution’s fiction as similar to contemporary ASSOCIATION truth production and representation. He examines the use of ■ SJR: 0.288 (#134/293 in Communication) ■ SNIP: 0.113 NATIONAL COMMUNICATION ASSOCIATION politics, while the show’s celebrity platform creates interest in voice in Serial, a popular podcast that told the story of Adnan ■ SJR: 0.139 (#217/293 in Communication) Critical Studies in Media Communication advocacy and sustains the campaign as an advocacy tool as well. Syed, who was convicted in 2000 for the murder of his ex-

■ Text and Performance Quarterly CRITICAL STUDIES JIF: 0.881 (#53/79 in Communication) girlfriend. Specifically, Buozis focuses on producer and narrator IN MEDIA COMMUNICATION Volume 1 Number 1 • January 2015 ■ ■ TEXT AND JIF: N/A CS: 0.94 (#79/263 in Communication) PERFORMANCE Holly Kathleen Hall, “The New Voice of America: Sarah Koenig’s use of Syed’s voice in the podcast, which was QUARTERLY

Volume 1 Number 1 • January 2015 ■ SNIP: 1.134 ■ CS: 0.34 (#44/619 in Literature & Literary Theory) Countering Foreign Propaganda and Disinformation used to present Syed’s take on the evidence and his experiences NATIONAL COMMUNICATION ASSOCIATION ■ SJR: 0.460 (#88/293 in Communication) ■ SNIP: 0.518 Act,” First Amendment Studies (2017). doi: 10.1080/ NATIONAL COMMUNICATION ASSOCIATION before and after his sentencing. Buozis explains that the practice ■ SJR: 0.253 (#148/293 in Communication) 21689725.2017.1349618 First Amendment Studies of giving voice to the accused is a strategy for challenging

■ In this article, Hall argues that there is a need for a governmental truth claims in journalism and other nonfiction narratives, FIRST JIF: N/A AMENDMENT STUDIES Volume 1 Number 1 • January 2015 ■ CS: 0.00 (#255/263 in Communication) organization tasked with creating counter-propaganda, and also and posits that when journalists question institutional truth ■ SNIP: N/A explains the deficiencies and vulnerabilities of the Countering in this way, they can help reveal inequities in the American

NATIONAL COMMUNICATION ASSOCIATION ■ SJR: 0.106 (#259/293 in Communication) Foreign Propaganda and Disinformation Act (CFPDA), signed criminal justice system and affect criminal justice outcomes.

4 November 2017 National Communication Association 5

AN INTRODUCTION

Think Big and Get the Details Right With APA Style CENTRAL®. s this issue of Spectra went to press, the Washington suffragist Ida B. Wells, and “treat the campaign to make Post website featured more than 7,600 articles that us irrelevant as what it is: an attack on democracy.” Riley A included the term “fake news.” Popularized by references lessons from Wells, Rosa Parks, the late Gwen President Trump when he was still a candidate, the term Ifill, and her own mentor and professor, Harry Amana, has become ubiquitous. Charges of fake news have been declaring, “If we remember our job—and do the job— levied against Facebook, against mainstream media outlets it will be easier for us to continue to train new generations such as The New York Times, CNN, and The Washington to continue to tell the story.” Post, and against entire nations. Ultimately, “fake news” Steven Carr continues the history lesson as he explores has become symbolic of the state of journalism and the dangers of “fake skepticism,” a hallmark of extremist communication in an age when hackers and bots can political discourse harkening back to pre-Holocaust manipulate what we see, a large portion of our citizens America. “What seems new, at least this time, is how feel disconnected and left behind, an ever-larger portion these postures now get amplified through a labyrinth are gathering their “news” from myriad unmoderated of communication piping and platforms that promote sources, and politics and personal beliefs have become insulation and customization without the messiness of face- inexorably intertwined. to-face human interaction.” He argues that Communication For this issue of Spectra, Communication scholars educators have a role to play in teaching students how to and an award-winning journalist explore how we define review and analyze evidence, to test ideas and come up with fake news, how it defines us, and how we might play a better ones. “Doing nothing frequently serves the interests leading role in rebuilding trust in our newsrooms and of a status quo, especially when that status quo has a vested our classrooms, and in one another. interest in making sure that the public stays put,” he writes. Katherine Fry opens the issue by asking, “What We close with an essay from Steven Goldzwig that we do mean by fake? What do we mean by news?” She explains President Trump’s use of what Goldzwig labels quickly acknowledges, however, that these aren’t the right “counterfactual advocacy,” which is contributing to the questions – we must dig deeper into how people form “ongoing deleterious effects of a present brand of public ® Authoritative guidance for big thinkers writing in APA Style their belief systems and what compels them to change discourse – a discourse that threatens the realization of a their minds. Moreover, she argues that in the digital age, more perfect union.” Goldzwig connects the assault on When it comes to writing in APA Style, the details matter. That’s why we “News is not just a set of messages, a message system, or a truth with the President’s populist and extremist rhetoric, created APA Style CENTRAL, a cloud-based writing solution that makes commodity; it is a process of participation and of relationships.” which he argues has become a “new normal” that will learning APA Style, formatting papers, and citing sources easier than ever. Understanding the ways that news is created, delivered, have devastating consequences. It helps students with mastering the application of APA Style, giving them consumed, and engaged with can help Communication and So, what can we do about fake news? The Fourth media scholars create more comprehensive media literacy Estate has taken a severe hit, but we understand the power the freedom to think big while conducting research and writing papers. education, and also can inspire everyone to think about the of the press more than ever, and Communication scholars news more critically. and journalists must work together to reclaim, as NCA If it’s fake, is it news? Columnist and radio talk show President Stephen J. Hartnett writes in his column, “the Learn more at www.apastyle.org/NCA host Rochelle Riley begins her essay with an adamant possibility of informed debate that is rooted in trust.” “no.” She urges journalists to take a page from writer and We hope you enjoy this issue of Spectra. ■

6 November 2017 National Communication Association 7

What Do We Mean by What Do We Mean by

By Katherine G. Fry, Ph.D.

uring a casual conversation with colleagues perspective. Recently, however, that’s become more not long ago, the talk almost immediately difficult, because it’s not enough. The sheer onslaught Perhaps the quest to distinguish fake from real, truth from lies, misses the point. turned to the current state of U.S. politics, of cyber-circulating information about major decisions, specifically news and information we’d accusations, and alliances, not to mention reports of alleged It’s not deep enough. It doesn’t ask the right questions. It’s too focused. Drecently read, watched, and shared on social media. We fake news mills supported by U.S. and foreign interests, discussed our concerns about possibly fabricated stories, has been mind-boggling. There are many questions and distortions, and general spin, both coming out of the concerns. Have foreign powers really tampered with the White House and generally present on the web. From the U.S. presidential election? Are major initiatives and long- 2016 U.S. presidential campaign until now, it seems many standing federal foundations actually being de-funded or where they originate, which sources are reliable, and which with constructing or repeating distortions or outright casual conversations eventually wind up in that territory. dismantled? Does anyone really know what’s going on? sources should be ignored. The result is often an unbearable lies. Why do people believe it? Who are these people Because I study news and teach media literacy, and have Will we ever know the “truth?” cynicism, even for those who study news. What’s real, who believe this stuff, even in the face of facts that prove been speaking professionally to scholarly and community While we rely on journalism—aka news—to inform us, what’s fake, and how are we to examine or talk about it? otherwise? Obsessing about facts, while legitimate, is not groups about news and the digital environment since the it has always been a healthy practice to critically assess legacy Perhaps the quest to distinguish fake from real, truth enough. It neglects some other crucial points. One point election, I have been witnessing from different sectors newspaper, television, and radio journalism in an effort to from lies, misses the point. It’s not deep enough. It doesn’t is that, as psychological research has shown, people with the fear about the state of information circulation and, determine when and how it is constructed and whether it ask the right questions. It’s too focused. Before, during, strong beliefs tend to double down on those beliefs in especially, the escalating concerns about “fake news.” is reliable. However, in the digital environment, it is much and after the recent U.S. presidential election, journalists, the face of contradicting facts. Another is that fake news Typically, my academic stance in these talks is to more difficult to assess news and information. Especially scholars, and concerned persons of all stripes were and is not a new phenomenon. There have been instances be partially detached and analytical, attempting to put on social media, it’s a challenge to think intelligently are obsessing about concepts such as facts, truths, and lies. of fraudulent reporting throughout the history of news. things into a larger, perhaps more comforting, historical about why certain kinds of information appear as they do, They muse about how this or that news figure gets away Consider The New York Sun’s publication of the Great

8 November 2017 National Communication Association 9

[There is a] need to understand the full complexity that news News is not just a set of messages, a message system, or a commodity; is and always has been, to understand the myriad biases or constraints it is a process of participation and of relationships. News is multi-player on news, and most importantly, to understand the current digital participation in an environment of shared information, influence, environment that has transformed news. access, and circulation. It is a verb as much as it is a noun.

Moon Hoax of 1835, or William Randolph Hearst’s or responsible accounts of events and circumstances fleeting way to clusters of people who are likely to spread but as the result of their own efforts to find consensus Morning Journal publishing fake drawings of Spanish on which to assess the world—biases and constraints information via Facebook or Twitter. This can have a among various sources. Because of their passion for a officials strip-searching American women, which set notwithstanding. I am acutely aware that all news items profound effect on public opinion and political elections. range of opinions (especially in light of government or off the Spanish-American war. A third point, which is are constructions that are constrained by political, These information targeters cannot be tracked, and social advertising censorship), they repeatedly indicated that what my own work examines, and what I’ll briefly explain social, economic, aesthetic, and technological factors. media companies are not required to keep tabs on them. a wide variety of voices is necessary; for them, reading here, is the need to understand the full complexity that Individuals and news organizations are constrained Social media’s algorithmic advertising model is unlike the comments of many others is a way to uncover news is and always has been, to understand the myriad by personal, collective, and organizational political and anything from the pre-digital era. truth. I gleaned from their word choices and overall biases or constraints on news, and most importantly, social biases, by traditions of journalistic training, and Given the constraints and biases of all media, and comments that their active participation in seeking to understand the current digital environment that has by organizational policies. News is also constrained by particularly those of the digital environment, what, many sources and from gathering information from transformed news. This wide scope of understanding goes the medium for which it is constructed, which includes then, is news today? News is a rapidly morphing genre. professionals, citizen journalists, and others allowed far beyond what the fake-versus-real debate allows. the space constraints of print and time constraints News is not just a set of messages, a message system, or a them to build an aggregate of information that they A first step in getting at the complexity of news requires of broadcast, by a reliance on words and still photos in commodity; it is a process of participation and of relationships. themselves could deem “trustworthy,” “faithful,” or that we stop using the term “fake.” What is it that’s fake? print, and by moving images, sound, graphics, and editing News is multi-player participation in an environment “objective.” For these students, diversity of opinion The concept is slippery, and not applicable if you view choices in electronic media. These are unique modes of shared information, influence, access, and circulation. was equal to objectivity and truth, and it was up to news as a social construction. As a media scholar and media of communication, creating different impacts and, indeed, It is a verb as much as it is a noun. The legacy hierarchy them to do the work to literally construct that truth. literacy specialist, I have never believed in objectivity or different stories. All of these constraints (and more) of gatekeepers in traditional news organizations has This new way of looking at news represents a notable unbiased news, no matter the medium or the source. Yet also apply to news online. When one considers these collapsed. News is connection in a digisphere whose players shift in the understanding and use of the terms “objectivity” I have always believed that within the world of news, constraints and biases, the fake-versus-real framework is are traditional news organizations, social networking and “truth,” and particularly in the importance of one’s one can find instances of reliability or at least plausible clearly too small. sites, pro and amateur journalists, and everyone and role in seeking them out. Reliability and truth were Economic impact represents a major constraint on all everything in between, borrowing from and building very important to the students with whom I talked, news, in all media. News is nearly always a product to be on one another through links, hyper-links, and sharing. but these were to be found outside of what the students sold to an audience, to be shared for a price. Despite what News is constructed using words, sounds, and images consider traditional journalism, and necessary for them news organizations claim is the case, the power of money on social media sites, on blogs, and on commercial, to come to on their own, as a part of their participatory to determine and influence information in newspapers and government-controlled, government-influenced, and practice. The students’ use of the terms “objective” and other print entities, on broadcasting and cable outlets, and non-profit websites. It is often indistinguishable from “truthful” as equal to “diverse perspectives” illustrates on the web is real and has been examined by many others advertising and entertainment. All the genres have blurred. Neil Postman’s argument in his book, Technopoly, that, at length. The economics of the Internet creates an added Because participation is a key factor, news as media technologies shift and, in turn, our cultural layer of complexity to news circulating there. Algorithms aggregation has become more important than separate, ecologies shift, the way we use and understand certain rule the day. Algorithms are mathematical models that authoritative sources. We need to take responsibility for terms also shifts. Traditionally, in the realms of journalism track individual browsing and sharing. They determine our own participatory role as aggregators. My research practice and journalism education, the concepts of truth, the ads and information in one’s personal feed. They are has shown that young adults understand this. A few years objectivity, and reliability, among others, have been held what search engines, social media sites, and advertisers back, I ran focus groups with undergraduate and graduate up as measures that are applicable to individual stories, all rely on to reach target markets. They are the financial students in the United States and in Turkey to compare reports, and messages. But these students had re-cast those foundation of the web. Recent pieces in the New Yorker their understanding about and participation in news. One terms to mean multiple voices and multiple perspectives. and The New York Times have reported, correctly, that of the many interesting things I found out was that, in Perhaps the once stalwart concepts of good journalism those who understand the way algorithms and social the world of news, these students defined “truth” not are shifting, just as the very definition of news has been media work know how to target news in a focused and as emanating from one respected, authoritative source, shifting for some time as a result of shifting media forms.

10 November 2017 National Communication Association 11

The digital environment is a different landscape, and journalists and citizens alike need to understand the boundaries in this landscape, and especially how to move forward.

The rapid development of the digital environment people, mostly students, to evaluate online sources. While democracy, to inform us about things large and small, Where does comprehensive media literacy has upset traditional journalism. The digital environment that skill is important, it’s not nearly enough. It ignores nearby and far way, journalism is not a heroic or sacred begin? It begins when one takes full responsibility is a different landscape, and journalists and citizens alike an understanding about the other constraining factors calling. It is a social construction. It is necessary, and it for understanding and participating in information need to understand the boundaries in this landscape, and of news, and it leaves out a broader education about the changes as our media forms change. We need to understand production and circulation online. To that end, I’ve especially how to move forward. In the participatory world digital environment and what all media and all genres have these forms, and particularly their biases and the cultural included a checklist ( left) of questions to consider when of news creation and sharing, many legacy journalists, become in this changing cultural milieu. Such a broader environments they create and nurture. The American and examining news and information in the newspaper, naturally threatened by the web and social media’s rogue understanding can come only from comprehensive critical Turkish students from my focus group study, while deft on television and radio, and via online outlets—no information frontier, have worked in different ways to media literacy education that advocates for understanding online news participants, were also conflicted in their matter the source. The questions are meant to inspire maintain their journalistic authority and status as keepers the range and complexity of all media content and forms. assessment of online information. They all said that they use critical thinking, and to demonstrate a wide range of the truth. Some have engaged in a form of news Though we call it the Fourth Estate and continue to and revere social media as information sources. Yet, when of considerations about news and online information literacy education that focuses almost entirely on training rely on it in order to be proper participant citizens in our pressed, they reported a sense of caution about overall online participation. The goal is to move away from the fake- reliability or safety. This uneasy contradiction could be versus-real debate and toward something deeper and more

eased with comprehensive media literacy education. relevant to the digital environment in which we reside. ■ MEDIA LITERACY PRIMER

Questions to ask about any item of news or information on the web and in general:

■ Who produced this piece? Can you tell, or is it unclear?

■ What is at stake for the individual or organization responsible for this story? What do they stand to gain?

■ Who is paying the bill to produce and distribute this information? Is it clear?

■ What facts are included? Which might be left out? What are the unanswered questions?

■ What tactics are used to get your attention, or to get you to click on the story? Are there any hyperbolic or highly charged words or phrases?

■ How are visuals and sound used to get attention or elicit a click?

■ How is the still or video camera used to encourage a feeling or perception?

■ What is featzured or framed in a photograph? If it’s a person, what is their expression? What are they doing?

■ Who are they? What camera angles are used? What is the pace of editing, if it’s a video? What is the overall feel?

■ Are elements of humor, such as sarcasm, used? What effect do they have?

■ What sorts of sounds are included in the piece, if any? What impact do they have?

Questions to ask about your own social media practices:

■ From which sources or sites am I getting my information? KATHERINE G. FRY teaches and publishes in the areas of media research and criticism; media ecology; media

■ What have I decided to share? Why? Am I sharing things my friends or acquaintances have posted on social media? literacy; and cultural analysis of journalism. A Fulbright scholar, she examines the changing definition of news resulting from changes in communication technologies and in audience news engagement. Fry has developed, ■ Have I sought out other sources about this same idea, event or topic? teaches, and writes about a model of activist media literacy education based on her grassroots media literacy ■ Have I closely examined opinions, views, or versions of a story that vary? education work as Co-Founder of the non-profit, New York City-based organization, The LAMP. She is the author ■ When I respond to news and information others have posted, how do I engage? Do I seek to enter thoughtful discussion, of Constructing the Heartland: Television News and Natural Disaster, a co-editor of Identities in Context: Media, or am I prone to emotional reaction? Why? Myth, Religion in Space the Time, and author of numerous articles about news and media literacy.

12 November 2017 National Communication Association 13

It is past time

for journalists to

take a page from

[Ida B. Wells Barnett].

We must treat the If It’s Fake, campaign to make us irrelevant as what it is: It’s Not News an attack on democracy.

By Rochelle Riley

can’t imagine Harry Amana saw this coming. Perhaps our answer lies in taking back the role we Her greatest and most heartbreaking work came Amana is one of those on whose shoulders I have relegated to politicians: teaching audiences about after a black friend of hers was lynched by a white mob How does one report unpopular stand as a journalist and communicator. A professor the history of journalism, about the heroes and heroines whose initial anger was only that his grocery store was of journalism at my alma mater, the University of North whose crusades and dedication made our craft. competing successfully against a white-owned store. news while maintaining the ICarolina at Chapel Hill, Harry taught me much of what Perhaps we should pay more attention to the work Wells urged black people to leave Memphis. More I needed to know to have a long career in newsrooms. and legacy of Ida B. Wells Barnett, who was born the than 6,000 did. Thus began an anti-lynching campaign trust and respect of audiences We studied basic ethics, basic interviewing, basic editing. child of slaves in Mississippi. She became a teacher that must continue today. We never studied basic lies and garbage. whose first righteous complaint was that white teachers It is past time for journalists to take a page from increasingly torn between But decades later, as I make my living analyzing and made $50 more a month than she did. Wells. We must treat the campaign to make us irrelevant commenting on the news of the day, I wish we had had more Rosa Parks was not the first to refuse to give up her as what it is: an attack on democracy. seeing journalists as heroes conversations about how to handle the latest trend in news: seat, not in 1955, not in our history. In 1884, Wells sued It is not enough for us to assume that readers, obvious lying. the train company that had kicked her out of the first-class listeners, and viewers cannot be fooled. Our very industry and seeing them as traitors? How does one report unpopular news while maintaining seat that she had bought. She won the case, but after the is under attack. We are a tweet away from being treated as the trust and respect of audiences increasingly torn between verdict was overturned on appeal, she wrote: “O God, is irrelevant. And it is happening at a time when journalism seeing journalists as heroes and seeing them as traitors? there no... justice in this land for us?” is needed more than ever.

14 November 2017 National Communication Association 15

We, the media, let politicians and lobbyists and bullies and liars take over part We can fight back, as an industry, the way we always have, by offering of our jobs, the part where we were supposed to bring our audiences with us. an absolute authority and unrelenting excellence that can withstand attack We let political terrorists define us, redefine our industry, diminish our work. from those who would wish away the Fourth Estate.

Hate crimes are increasing. The Fourth Estate is shoulders we stand, we can reclaim the right to define and they’re all products of the thing that we’ve become: student, journalist to journalist. This is not something under siege. People cannot tell the difference between ourselves. If we teach our audiences the history and media drones, media robots. We’ve been taught that the we saw coming. those of us who are trained to help them find the truth necessity of our industry, rather than assume that they way to think about things is through shortcuts. That’s But now that we have seen it, we have two jobs: to and some guy sitting in his underwear in a basement in know, we can continue a tradition that literally upholds what we’re getting.” offer excellent journalism, and to make sure our audiences Wisconsin (or Macedonia) declaring that his news is real. our way of life. Now, we must juggle saving our industry with doing know what journalism is. Some universities already are We, the media, let politicians and lobbyists and We must make sure that 100 years from now, the the jobs that continue to make our industry relevant. responding. The School of Journalism at Michigan State bullies and liars take over part of our jobs, the part where name of the late Ida B. Wells is spoken with reverence The road back will be hard. University is offering a course, open to all students, that we were supposed to bring our audiences with us. and awareness. “With the decline of print journalism,” Harry says, explores the rise of fake stories. We let political terrorists define us, redefine our We must make sure the name Gwen Ifill, the late “and the rise in broadcast journalism, and with the Its purpose, according to MSU Today, is to “inform industry, diminish our work. longtime anchor at PBS and host of Washington Week, limited budgets they’re getting, and with little time to all Spartans on media literacy, teaching students how to And now it’s time for us to stop. is forever spoken with pride and care. Forever. do comprehensive, investigative journalism on the air, analyze and evaluate media and how fake news differs We must stop using the term “fake news.” If it’s fake, Ida B. Wells died at age 68 in Chicago. She left a it doesn’t look good. The answers are all out there now from traditional news content. it’s not news. Call it what it is: lies and garbage. legacy that is deserving of teaching in all American on the web. People can find out what the real deal is, but Rachel Mourao, the assistant professor who will teach We must no longer let people such as Kellyanne schools. Her name should be known to all children, when it comes to mainstream media, we look at things the course, “Media Literacy in the Age of Fake News,” Conway and Steve Bannon determine our lexicon, then regardless of their color or station. Her motto is mine: that reinforce what we’re already thinking.” said: “We want students to be able to navigate all of the turn around and teach that to America. “One had better die fighting against injustice than to die That we even have to fight for the soul of our different sources of information that they come across.” The American people are demanding more of us like a dog or a rat in a trap.” industry is not something that my old college professor I hope Communication scholars nationwide will join

journalists. So we must step up and give it to them, not be The fight will be hard, according to my professor, Harry and I ever talked about before, professor to that quest. ■ angry that they are NOT so discerning. Harry Amana, because we have ignored it for so long. We can fight back, as an industry, the way we always “On the one hand, the degree to which we’ve come have, by offering an absolute authority and unrelenting to this, I don’t think any of us could have foreseen that,” excellence that can withstand attack from those who would Harry says. “But on the other hand, when you realize wish away the Fourth Estate. anything about the world of advertising and public We must learn what Wells, the writer, editor, suffragist, relations and the way that people have been able to slant and feminist, taught us: Everything is local. Every national images to influence our opinions about things, a lot event, every global issue affects people down the street. of this was predictable. I think that we’ve been nurtured We just need to make audiences understand that. on a program that invites us to take shortcuts…We want Every column I’ve ever written has been for my black-and-white answers. We want them quickly, and we grandmother, Lowney Hilliard Pitt, who lived her entire don’t want them to be too complicated. And Madison life in a small town in eastern North Carolina, and who Avenue perfected the response to that. needed to understand every issue that was being debated in “That’s what we get now,” he says. “Anything that’s Washington, every crime that was committed in New York too complex and has to be rationally thought about, and every politician who was lying in Detroit or Chicago we’re not accepting that. That’s on the right and the left. ROCHELLE RILEY is a columnist and radio talk show host whose columns can be read at or Philadelphia. We look for easy ways out… and there’s no such thing. www.freep.com/rochelleriley and whose show can be heard on www.910amsuperstation. It all affected her. So, it’s very easy for a person like our president now… com. She is the author of The Burden: African Americans and the Enduring Impact of Slavery If we remember our job—and do the job—it will First we had Ronald Reagan, a B-movie actor, then we (Wayne State University Press), which will be released in February 2018. And, she is the be easier for us to continue to train new generations to had The Terminator Governor (Arnold Schwarzenegger), winner of the National Association of Black Journalists’ 2017 Ida B. Wells Award and the continue to tell the story. If we remember those on whose and now we’ve got what we’ve got in the White House, Society of Professional Journalists’ 2017 Eugene Pulliam Fellowship.

16 November 2017 National Communication Association 17

Be concerned with these historically cyclical Trojan Horse charges, bearing gifts of oppositional stances to an imagined mainstream and conventional wisdom. Be very ON THE DANGERS OF concerned with kinder and gentler veneers upon the same old hateful postures.

AND

By Steven Alan Carr, Ph.D.

harges of “fake news” would hardly pass and nasty strains of “America First.” Such slogans connect muster with the news media’s own criteria for 2017 extremist political discourses back to a pre-Holocaust what constitutes news. The charges are not America, one that could look upon Muslim refugees today particularly timely or unusual, at least within the with the same disdain that once accompanied repeatedly Cpast hundred years. At best, they appeal to long-standing slamming doors on Jewish families fleeing Nazi Europe mistrust of both media and, in a more general sense, throughout the 1930s. All of this got me thinking about modernity. Short on specifics, these charges are as evocative a speech one-time aviation superstar Charles Lindbergh as they are stubborn, a bulwark against encroaching gave in Fort Wayne on October 3, 1941, a rally against both urbanism and consumer cultures. As a visceral response, foreigners and media that drew 4,000 people in the city in they strike back with a simulated world-weariness of ennui which I now teach Communication classes at Indiana U— and unease. Rather than serving a public interest, they strive Purdue U Fort Wayne. Surely all of that righteous fury to make grandiose claims of serving a broader interest. didn’t simply dissipate into the cultural ether after 1941. They do a better job of manipulating and undermining it. Be concerned with these historically cyclical Trojan The proliferation of these charges amid the chaos Horse charges, bearing gifts of oppositional stances to an of the Trump presidency has resuscitated both ideologies imagined mainstream and conventional wisdom. Be very and language I once believed had been thoroughly concerned with kinder and gentler veneers upon the same discredited following World War II. One need not look old hateful postures. What seems new, at least this time, is much past “Make America Great Again” to find rousing how these postures now get amplified through a labyrinth

18 November 2017 National Communication Association 19

If you are a faculty member, department chair, or dean, expect to Yet the intellectual flexibility and resourcefulness see your most valuable commodity—the flexible, curious, and critical promoted within this environment, and mindset a broad-based college education produces—coming under even cultivated through a broadened curriculum, are greater external threats and pressures in this climate. exactly what the next five years will demand.

of communication piping and platforms that promote for better serves imagined short-term and immediate cited a telephone survey showing that half of his opposed to the Roosevelt administration, U.S. entry into insulation and customization without the messiness industrial needs, some of which have already become readers either believed that refugees disproportionately World War II, and what it saw as Jewish control over the of face-to-face human interaction. The “fake skepticism” obsolete. Technical training alone will never prepare the committed crimes, or that readers weren’t sure whether media. In a speech delivered in Des Moines, Iowa, on of these postures means to do harm to core democratic coming workforce for a world full of self-driving trucks, the newspaper was covering up the criminals’ identities September 11, 1941, Lindbergh warned that Jews presented institutions. These include not just basic professional and artificially intelligent home robots, or video editing because they were refugees. “Basically, half our readers the single “greatest danger to this country” due to “their ethical standards of a watchdog free press, but the core software that can realistically alter a recording of any believe we are hiding something from them,” Uwe large ownership and influence in our motion pictures, function of our colleges and universities. If you are a public figure to say whatever you want it to say, done in Vetterick told reporter Ilya Marritz. “Or they’re not sure our press, our radio and our government.” faculty member, department chair, or dean, expect to see real time. That workforce, educated within the next five whether we might be hiding something.” Half of the Less than a month after his infamous Iowa speech, your most valuable commodity—the flexible, curious, years, will need to know how to navigate a world that newspaper’s readers found reason to disbelieve the Lindbergh spoke again in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Driving and critical mindset a broad-based college education hasn’t yet imagined the roster of skills, efficiencies, newspaper, not because of evidence or logic presented to out moderate and pacifist members, America First now produces—coming under even greater external threats and processes necessary to conduct their jobs, all within them, but because their absence couldn’t confirm what hoped to forge new alliances with the likes of the KKK and pressures in this climate. a still highly volatile cultural context. readers already had made up in their own minds. That and the German-American Bund. Against this backdrop, Not only is your most valuable commodity essential Europe offers us a template for how easily those absence somehow confirmed the stereotypes educated Lindbergh drew an audience of 4,000 people. After to a healthy democracy, one where an informed and with a political agenda can deploy fake skepticism readers expected or wanted to see. welcomes and introductions from city dignitaries such reasoned electorate must know how to evaluate and to leverage extremism within this unstable context. This fake skepticism, one that only requires an as Mayor Harry Baals, Lindbergh spoke. He warned analyze reliable information to make difficult public Reporting by National Public Radio’s On the Media in absence of reason and evidence to find confirmation of that this would be the last time he could speak, before choices. It also makes good occupational sense. The the summer of 2016 showed how the far-right German its worldview, is neither specifically German nor even a President Roosevelt declared martial law and suspended work of faculty in Communication and in some other nationalist Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamization modern-day European phenomenon. More than 75 years outright both free speech and free elections. Like Hitler disciplines in the humanities and social sciences does of the West (PEGIDA) had gained a foothold among the ago, Lindbergh became the face of the America First did in Nazi Germany. Congress had become another not map easily or precisely to a single profession or German public in its campaign against Syrian refugees. Committee, an isolationist organization that was virulently Reichstag. “Foreigners who advocate war” already found trade. The current political climate, which demands a Although the head of PEGIDA was forced to resign the doors to lecture halls wide open. America First found literalness of one-to-one occupational accountability, after posing as Adolf Hitler on social media and posting them slammed shut. “Propaganda from Moscow” already more frequently holds against you the intangible values pictures of white supremacists on Facebook, with took banner headlines, while America First’s “facts and of intellectual capital and the quality of life your captions reading “Three Ks a day keeps the minorities arguments against war” were buried in the paper, if they institution brings to your students and your communities away,” the organization ultimately downplayed its appeared at all. The speech was broadcast nationwide over because their metrics do not always quantify neatly within historical linkages to Aryanism and racial purity. Instead, hundreds of NBC radio stations. The next day, details an Excel spreadsheet. Yet the intellectual flexibility and PEGIDA’s rhetoric assailed a much more socially and extensive quotations from the speech appeared on the resourcefulness promoted within this environment, and acceptable scapegoat: the media. Attendees at weekly front page of The New York Times. cultivated through a broadened curriculum, are exactly PEGIDA rallies across Germany regularly broke into Overheated charges of fake news today evoke what the next five years will demand. The narrowed chants of Lügenpresse—“the lying media.” Lindbergh’s 1941 victim-status rants against interventionist professional and competency-based training some When On the Media interviewed Uwe Vetterick, propaganda. Certainly, reliable and accurate news must political, business, and even academic leaders now clamor the editor of the biggest newspaper in Dresden, he Charles Lindbergh speaking at an America First Committee rally. play a vital role in any democracy, and we should always

20 November 2017 National Communication Association 21

If every mediated message was potentially a Big Lie, If we dwell upon the fact that bad ideas occasionally enter the system, why should anyone have believed eyewitness reports of violent or that the news media might occasionally miss something of importance Nazi persecution throughout the 1930s? Or reliable reports today of to some, we risk losing sight of some very real and pressing threats to our Syrian refugees fleeing a murderous Assad regime? Or the science democracy and global stability. We also risk playing right into the behind impending catastrophes of climate change? hands of those who would prefer we do nothing at all.

remain concerned about the quality of that news and that inconveniently disrupts complacent worldviews in also be concerned about fake skepticism and the claims To systematically gather evidence, and make effective our news institutions. However, if we treat that news and of itself is neither fake nor propaganda. Labeling of the powerful, who see themselves as victims, afflicted arguments based on that evidence. But even beyond those with a healthy dose of skepticism, we also should treat it as such, though, is effective at promoting intolerant by communication that is inconvenient to their narrow cutting-edge skills of analysis and reason, our product is unfounded and wild-eyed charges of “liberal bias,” “fake and closed mindsets. To be sure, we should dislike personal agendas and their anti-democratic ambitions to not the student, nor is it the college graduate. Our product news,” or “propaganda” with at least the same dosage. and remain intolerant of some extreme views, such as consolidate unilateral power. is the greater good we provide to a healthy democracy. Lindbergh’s charge of propaganda came accessorized Holocaust denial and distortion. And our core democratic As Communication educators and university And that democracy can only be as healthy as the healthy with its own hateful agenda. That agenda played nicely institutions certainly have many imperfections. Yet we administrators, we have a role to play. A university skepticism our curricula instill for the global citizens who, with an already established tradition of American racism frequently tolerate the bad ideas, not because we believe education remains critical, not just in teaching students in the future, will face difficult choices and questions for

and anti-Semitism, both well-tolerated throughout much in them, but because we have faith in a system with cutting-edge skills that will help get them employed. which there are no easy or simplistic answers. ■ of polite society before World War II. Hatred for an a pretty good track record for letting the better ideas Those skills will always be in demand. The ability to increasingly pluralistic democracy could latch on to an eventually win out. If we dwell, in an endless feedback sift through and evaluate evidence. To put the reigning Note: This article is revised and expanded from an editorial older root structure, already in place, and could score a loop, upon the fact that bad ideas occasionally enter the ideas to the test, and strive to come up with better ones. that originally appeared in The Fort Wayne Journal Gazette. few cheap political points against the Roosevelt system, or that the news media might occasionally miss administration in the process. something of importance to some, we risk losing sight Nazism, too, had its version of “fake news,” which it of some very real and pressing threats to our democracy celebrated as the Big Lie. If repeated loudly and frequently and global stability. We also risk playing right into the enough, a lie could seduce the masses into believing it hands of those who would prefer we do nothing at all, as true. But both the Nazis and their opponents oversold except let authoritarian leaders make unilateral decisions the concept. The Big Lie didn’t work because people on behalf of the people. eventually believed in it. It worked because it sowed Doing nothing frequently serves the interests of a just enough doubt in the things that already made status quo, especially when that status quo has a vested many uncomfortable to begin with, such as holding interest in making sure that the public stays put, so the authoritarian leaders accountable and standing up for privileged can continue to enjoy privilege, free from the those citizens who had been persecuted by their own glare of democratic accountability, or from an individual government. If every mediated message was potentially conscience. American inertia served the interests of those a Big Lie, why should anyone have believed eyewitness who did not want to see an influx of Jewish refugees reports of violent Nazi persecution throughout the coming to this country, as much as it now serves the 1930s? Or reliable reports today of Syrian refugees interests of those who see women and children refugees fleeing a murderous Assad regime? Or the science behind from Syria as a national security threat, or those who impending catastrophes of climate change? wish to criminalize people on the basis of citizenship, Like charges of “fake news” today, charges of or those who believe we should shield powerful leaders from even the most minimal levels of accountability, propaganda then played upon fears and imperfections STEVEN ALAN CARR is Professor of Communication and Director of the Institute for Holocaust and in the system to justify and amplify anti-democratic all the while cynically promising to make America first Genocide Studies at Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne. He is the author of Hollywood tendencies that were hardly ready to shrivel up and die and great again. Yes, we should be concerned about and Anti-Semitism: A Cultural History Up to World War II, and co-author with Jennifer Frost of the in the face of a changing America. Communication fake news and the health of our democracy. We should forthcoming volume, Teaching United States History Through “Message Movies.”

22 November 2017 National Communication Association 23

When Words Lose Their Meaning: Counterfactual Advocacy, Donald Trump, and the Rise of Despotic Populism

By Steven R. Goldzwig, Ph.D.

ounterfactual Advocacy” is a discourse designed campaign unleashed a number of ethical dilemmas that THE ASSAULT ON TRUTH turn—think climate change and global warming, ‘‘ to deny, evade, or misdirect its audiences from promise to challenge our new president and our national The assault on truth did not begin with Trump, but it think deregulation of the administrative state. facts, inferences, or descriptions of events that will. Trump has become a lightning rod and a platform for arrives in an atmosphere and environment conducive Tom Nichols (2017) argues compellingly that the might provide the kind of transparency we several unsavory developments, including but not limited to the alternative reality that has been the subject death of expertise is partially, but not insignificantly, due Cneed in a democratic society to make the best assessment of to instances of rampant misogyny, racism, chauvinism, of much commentary and no little worry. Fernbach to a growing narcissism that has led to less belief in the and useful decisions about our present reality. In a political anti-Semitism, and xenophobia. and Sloman (2017) suggest that while “individual value of expertise. Random “facts” washing over us as environment, counterfactual advocacy taints and disrupts Given these alarming developments, I want to ignorance” is often our “natural state,” that same we engage in dozens and dozens of mouse clicks do not public policy processes and products. While this definition interrogate the ongoing deleterious effects of a present ignorance can “prompt us to demand expertise and necessarily make us experts; in fact, after such exposure, is formative rather than definitive, the formulation provides brand of public discourse—a discourse that threatens nuanced analysis from our leaders, which is the only we might even find ourselves in an inferior intellectual a baseline for interpreting our present circumstances. the realization of a more perfect union, savages the tried and true way to make policy.” Yet, thus far with position—but wholly unaware of our deficit. The result Counterfactual advocacy has now seemingly led to commonweal, and tears at the fabric of the republic. the Trump administration, policy does not seem to is that reasoned, evidenced-based argument as a defining a counterfactual advocacy industry. Its leader and chief I want to touch upon four key themes: 1.) the assault derive from the painstaking prior analysis and the ingredient in our democracy is slowly disappearing. When spokesperson is Donald J. Trump. Assisted by the rise of what on truth and expertise; 2.) Trump’s demagoguery; 3.) application of expertise that make outcomes predictable. we add in a seemingly narcissistic president with a penchant has been labeled the alt-right, the 2016 presidential election Trump’s version of populism; and 4.) why words matter. In fact, as we all know, expertise is questioned at every for demagoguery, we exacerbate this growing problem.

24 November 2017 National Communication Association 25

If all claims are equal, and their supporting evidence either TRUMP’S MCCARTHYISM Joe McCarthy’s rhetorical methods certainly parallel unexamined or summarily and arrogantly ignored, we flatten Trump’s. One might consult Barnet Baskerville’s (1954) classic article on Joseph McCarthy to find resonance. In the lifeblood of the human heart and pose significant classic demagogic fashion, Trump, like McCarthy, has obstacles to human action on behalf of social change. employed untruths and distortion with abandon. Like McCarthy, Trump seems to believe that “dramatic lies are more attractive than prosaic truth.” Like McCarthy, Trump has shown an “indifference to ideas” and a “lack of interest in democratic processes by means of which ideas are examined, tested, and modified.” Like McCarthy, Trump has displayed “an imperious refusal to listen to rule is accomplished by demagogic practices and preferred this gathering storm. In that endeavor, words matter. replies to his accusations,” and this is “matched by an governance reflects a penchant for dictatorial rule. Trump’s As NCA President Stephen Hartnett (2017) recently equally imperious refusal to reply rationally to charges rhetorical forays display a narcissistic authoritarianism that observed, we must “proceed with the understanding that made against him.” Like McCarthy, Trump “hits and he skirts democratic values and practices. His mercurial self- communication both reflects objective conditions and runs; he makes reckless assertions which he cannot prove.” centeredness brooks few critics. shapes them.” This belief challenges us to “cherish the importance of ethical, evidence-based, careful speech that DESPOTIC POPULISM WORDS MATTER is linked to slow, deliberate, and responsive listening.”

At this writing, one pines for one iota of public interest— Rhetoric and public policy are hampered by a perfidious Here lay the seeds of intervention. ■ or even a scintilla of old-fashioned shame—in place of shortsighted assumption that what anybody says, regardless Trump’s dogged continuance of the grandiose lifestyle of truth or accuracy, is merely a part of the “new normal” Excerpted from a paper presented at the biennial 2017 Nieman he adopted before taking office. If this lifestyle reflects in public discourse. This is an assumption with devastating Conference: “Discerning the Truth in the 2016 Presidential a populist agenda, I am hard-pressed to find it. consequences. If all claims are equal, and their supporting Election,” Monday March 27, 2017, Alumni Memorial Union, The idea of a billionaire populist summons an evidence either unexamined or summarily and arrogantly Marquette University. Reprinted from NCA’s Communication eerie, oxymoronic ring. Trump’s economic nationalism, ignored, we flatten the lifeblood of the human heart and Currents at https://www.natcom.org/communication-currents/ Trump, like McCarthy, has employed disguised rhetorically as a populist movement, is belied pose significant obstacles to human action on behalf of when-words-lose-their-meaning-counterfactual-advocacy- by a truckload of evidence, including the fact that he social change. We each have a stake in trying to turn back donald-trump-and-rise. untruths and distortion with abandon. chose a number of plutocrats to head his cabinet posts, in some cases charging them with dismantling or Like McCarthy, Trump seems to definitively delegitimating the traditional powers and regulatory statutes that defined, enforced, and protected believe that “dramatic lies are more their missions. The alleged goal: the deconstruction of the administrative state. I find a thoroughly despotic thread in that type of “populism.” As Marc Fisher attractive than prosaic truth.” Like (2017) notes, “Trump has managed to blend left-wing populism, which tends to target Wall Street billionaires McCarthy, Trump has shown an and corporate leaders as oppressors of the working class, with right-wing populism, which generally targets civil “indifference to ideas” and a “lack servants, intellectuals, the media, and racial minorities and immigrants.” Rhetorically, then, Trump’s populism of interest in democratic processes by is an odd hybrid; such a discourse reflects both the left and the right. It can hardly be seen in terms of traditional Republican philosophical and political principles—and STEVEN R. GOLDZWIG is a Professor in the Department of Communication Studies and the means of which ideas are examined, still less in terms of traditional Republican discourse. Diederich College of Communication at Marquette University. His publications on the contemporary Today, we are simultaneously experiencing a rise in presidency have appeared in Rhetoric & Public Affairs, Presidential Studies Quarterly, Communication tested, and modified.” authoritarianism as well as an unparalleled surfacing of Monographs, Western Journal of Communication; and Southern Communication Journal, among incompetence. In my view, despotic populism displays others. He is the author of Truman’s Whistle-Stop Campaign and co-author of In a Perilous Hour: The the classic signatures of authoritarian regimes in which Public Address of John F. Kennedy [with George N. Dionisopoulos].

26 November 2017 National Communication Association 27

CAREER OPPORTUNITIES

Assistant Professor To learn more about the above position, the College of Arts and Public Relations and Political Communication Position courses, and perform service. Such a candidate will have California State Polytechnic University, Pomona Sciences, and Baylor University, please visit www.baylor.edu/ Description: The successful applicant will have a research a Ph.D. in Communication (or related field such as psychology, communication/; www.baylor.edu/artsandsciences/?_ and teaching record focused on public relations, with an management, or other social or behavioral science) and an We invite applications for the position of Assistant Professor buref=1155-90749 or www.baylor.edu/hr/facultypositions. interest in political communication. The position requires innovative program of research. The candidate should have of Communication. Duties and Responsibilities: Teach a Ph.D. in Communication or related discipline. interests in engaging with interdisciplinary research teams or undergraduate courses in Interpersonal Communication, Baylor University is a private not-for-profit university affiliated centers on campus (e.g., Regenstrief Center for Healthcare Advanced Interpersonal Communication, Communication: with the Baptist General Convention of Texas. As an Affirmative Undergraduate teaching would sometimes include a large Engineering, Center for the Environment, Center for Education The Dark Side, Communication Theory, and one or more Action/Equal Opportunity employer, Baylor is committed to lecture Introduction to Public Relations course and special and Research in Information Assurance and Security, Center for of the following undergraduate courses: Negotiation and compliance with all applicable anti-discrimination laws, including topics courses in the candidate’s area of specialty. Industry Families, and/or the Colleges of Engineering and Science). The Conflict Resolution, Persuasion, Research Methods, Advanced those regarding age, race, color, sex, national origin, marital or government experience in public relations, advertising, candidate must be prepared for teaching, collaborating with, Research Methods, and additional courses in the candidate’s status, pregnancy status, military service, genetic information, political campaigns, or strategic communications is desirable. and mentoring both graduate and undergraduate students. We areas of expertise. Position requires excellence in teaching and disability. As a religious educational institution, Baylor is Screening of applications will begin on October 15, 2017, seek a colleague who will develop and teach new and existing and advising, research and publication, and service to the lawfully permitted to consider an applicant’s religion as a and will continue to be accepted until the position is filled. undergraduate and graduate courses in his/her areas of interest. Department, the College, and the University. Minimum selection criterion. Baylor encourages women, minorities, A background check will be required for employment in The potential for securing extramural funding is desirable. veterans, and individuals with disabilities to apply. Qualifications: Ph.D. in Communication (completed no this position. A complete application includes: a letter of Screening of applications will begin on October 23, 2017 later than August 1, 2018). Previous teaching experience. This institution chooses not to disclose its domestic partner application, curriculum vitae, statement of research interests and will continue until the position is filled. A background Demonstrated potential for continued and substantive benefits policy. (max. 2 pages), evidence of teaching effectiveness (max. 2 check will be required for employment in this position. scholarly research and publication. Demonstrated ability to This institution chooses not to disclose its spousal pages), no more than two publications, and names and A complete application includes a letter of application, contribute to the diversity and excellence of the academic benefits policy. contact information for three references. Send application curriculum vitae, statement of research interests, evidence community through research, teaching, and/or service; and materials electronically to Allison Loy at [email protected]. of teaching effectiveness, and names and contact information to commit to teaching and working in a multicultural Questions regarding the position or application process Assistant Professor for three references. Purdue University’s Brian Lamb School environment. Date of Appointment: Fall 2018. Consideration should be directed to Dr. Josh Boyd, Search Committee Chair, Purdue University of Communication is committed to advancing diversity in all of completed applications will begin on December 1, 2017 [email protected] or 765.494.3333. and will continue until the position is filled. An online The Brian Lamb School of Communication at Purdue University areas of faculty effort, including scholarship, instruction, and application process will be used. To apply, please go directly invites applications for two tenure-track Assistant Professor Purdue’s main campus is located in West Lafayette, Indiana, engagement. Candidates should address at least one of these to https://class.cpp.edu/apply-com-interpersonal. For positions whose research and teaching center on (a) Strategic a welcoming and diverse community with a wide variety of areas in their cover letter, indicating their past experiences, additional assistance, please email Victoria Key, Administrative Political Communication and (b) Public Relations and Political cultural activities and events, and industries. current interests or activities, and/or future goals to promote Support Coordinator, at [email protected]. California State Communication. The successful applicants will join a growing Purdue University’s Brian Lamb School of Communications is a climate that values diversity and inclusion. Send application Polytechnic University, Pomona is an Equal Opportunity, area of study at the undergraduate and graduate levels in the committed to advancing diversity in all areas of faculty effort, materials electronically to Allison Loy ([email protected]). Affirmative Action Employer. Lamb School and complement existing strengths in mass including scholarship, instruction, and engagement. Questions regarding the position or application process can also be directed to Dr. Felicia Roberts, Search Committee This institution offers benefits to same-sex and to communication, public relations, and organizational Candidates should address at least one of these areas in their Chair ([email protected]); 765-494-3323. different-sex domestic partners. communication. Teaching responsibilities will include cover letter, indicating their past experiences, current interests undergraduate and graduate courses as well as graduate or activities, and/or future goals to promote a climate that Purdue’s main campus is located in West Lafayette, Indiana, This institution offers benefits to spouses. advising. Purdue University’s Research Park is home to the values diversity and inclusion. a welcoming and diverse community with a wide variety of C-SPAN Archives, and we welcome applications from scholars Purdue University is an EOE/AA employer. All individuals, cultural activities and events, industries, and excellent schools. whose research and teaching might use this resource. Assistant Professor including minorities, women, individuals with disabilities, All qualified individuals will receive consideration for Baylor University Strategic Political Communication Position Description: The and veterans are encouraged to apply. employment without regard to race, religion, color, sex, successful applicant will have a research and teaching record national origin or ancestry, genetic information, marital status, Baylor University is a private Christian university and a This institution offers benefits to same-sex and to centering on media and political communication. The position parental status, sexual orientation, gender identity nationally ranked research institution, consistently listed with different-sex domestic partners. highest honors among The Chronicle of Higher Education’s requires a Ph.D. in Communication or related discipline. and expression, disability, or status as a veteran. This institution offers benefits to spouses. “Great Colleges to Work For.” The university is recruiting new The ideal candidate will explore the influence of mediated Purdue University is an EOE/AA employer. All individuals, faculty with a deep commitment to excellence in teaching, communication processes, messages, or emerging communication including minorities, women, individuals with disabilities, research, and scholarship. Baylor seeks faculty who share in technologies on individual or collective political attitudes and Assistant Professor and veterans are encouraged to apply. our aspiration to become a tier one research institution while Purdue University behaviors. Possible contexts for research and teaching include This institution offers benefits to same-sex and to strengthening our distinctive Christian mission as described in the influence and effects of traditional and digital communication The Brian Lamb School of Communication at Purdue different-sex domestic partners. our strategic vision, Pro Futuris (http://www.baylor.edu/ technologies, public discourse from government leaders, news University invites applications for a tenure-track Assistant profuturis/). As the world’s largest Baptist University, Baylor This institution offers benefits to spouses. media and journalism, or media and public opinion. Professor in Risk Communication. We seek an engaged offers more than 40 doctoral programs and has almost 17,000 scholar/teacher who has interests in areas such as message students from all 50 states and more than 80 countries. Screening of applications will begin on October 15, 2017, and will continue to be accepted until the position is filled. planning, the assessment and effect of risk messages, Baylor seeks to fill the following tenure-track faculty position A background check will be required for employment in this judgment and decision making, strategic communication of within the College of Arts and Sciences: position. A complete application includes: a letter of application, risk, crisis management, or risk in interpersonal and/or Assistant Professor of Communication. curriculum vitae, statement of research interests (max. 2 pages), mediated contexts. We are especially interested in Photo credits: The Department of Communication at Baylor University invites evidence of teaching effectiveness (max. 2 pages), no more than candidates whose interests intersect with other areas in our Page 9: Shutterstock/Scanrail1 and iStock/rzarek; page 10: Wikimedia applications for a tenure-track Assistant Professor position two publications, and names and contact information for three School, such as Health Communication, Interpersonal Commons, Frederic Remington, 1897; page 13: Shutterstock/gior; specializing in Health Communication. A Ph.D. in references. Send application materials electronically to Allison Loy Communication, Organizational Communication, Public page 14: iStock/kuppa_rock; page 15: National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; page 19: iStock/guvendemir; page 21: Communication is required. A completed application includes: at [email protected]. Questions regarding the position or Relations, Media/Technology/Society, or Media and Politics. (upper) Shutterstock/stock_photo_world and (lower) Wikimedia a letter of interest, curriculum vitae, official transcripts, three application process should be directed to Dr. Josh Boyd, Search The successful candidate will conduct research, advise Commons; page 25: Shutterstock/chrisdorney; and page 26: letters of reference, and a sample of scholarship. Committee Chair, [email protected] or 765.494.3333. graduate students, teach undergraduate and graduate level Wikimedia Commons, Herbert Block, 1950.

28 November 2017 National Communication Association 29

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